3 Drills Lifeguards Use that Can be Implemented into Your Military Training.
Cody Wright
August 5, 2022
Training to be a rescue swimmer, SEAL, PJ, Recon Marine or any other military job that requires a high level of water confidence? Instead of trying to reinvent ways of improving water confidence with intricate drills. We’ve decided to take a peek into the world of ocean lifeguarding to learn from some of the world's best watermen and women.
Building fitness and water confidence can be done outside of the monotony of a pool. If you’re fortunate enough to have access to the ocean, use it to your advantage. Swimming in a large body of water regularly will give you an edge that can’t be replicated in the pool but will give you some psychological benefits when in the pool. For instance, if you’re used to body surfing and being tossed around in bigger surf. Simple underwater laps and lap tracers will seem much more relaxed in a controlled environment like a pool. For added water confidence boost, swim the drills mentioned below without goggles or a mask. For military candidates, this may seem shocking, but ocean lifeguards do not use masks or goggles when swimming in the ocean.
Below is a list of three drills that can be used to improve your water endurance and confidence. These are all designed to be done in the ocean, ideally with waves! If you don’t have access to the ocean, the first two drills can be amended for a pool, but body surfing is going to be impossible!
1. In and Outs: Run 100-200 yds from sand to ocean, swim through the surf zone out 50-200yds, exit water, run back to starting point. Repeat for X repetitions. Ideally, you’re moving quickly and efficiently through the surf on the way out and body surfing as much as possible on the way in to speed up the drill!
2. Run-Swim-Run: Run 1-2 miles, swim 500-2000yds, Run 1-2 miles. Distance can be amended based on fitness. When swimming in the ocean, pick a set distance out, then swim parallel to shore for a prescribed time/stroke amount/distance.
3. Body Surfing: Great way to increase water confidence if you’re not used to getting tossed around by the ocean! Best if done with fins and no mask or snorkel.
These are drills that are common for any beach lifeguard but might be overlooked by military candidates looking to become rescue swimmers, SEALS, PJs or other jobs that require a high level of water confidence/water fitness. If you’re interested in learning more about lifeguard skills and applying them to your military career, you’ll want to check out our Lifeguard MasterClass taught by Ed Vodrazka, a retired California Ocean Lifeguard. In this 5-6 hour course airing live via Zoom on September 5th and 7th, Ed will cover what he’s learned as an ocean lifeguard for over 40 years, including how to deal with a drowning victim, identifying and coming up with a plan to rescue someone in dangerous seas and how to train to become a lifeguard! Many of these skills are required or useful to know for military professionals working in and around the water. If you want to have a leg up on other candidates, this course is highly recommended.